


Dusk

by M_Renoir



Series: The Rogue and the Paladin: A Collection of Stories [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romantic Fluff, i don't want to clutter the tf2 tag with unrelated works as much as i want the attention, look i'd tag Spy TF2 if rene was more canon compliant but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 09:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17322467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Renoir/pseuds/M_Renoir
Summary: The sunset is still beautiful, even if the world's gone to shit.





	Dusk

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is the first work I'm uploading as a part of a series of drabbles featuring my Favorite Boys, René and Will. I'm kinda torn about how to tag this, and since a lot of it is set in a variety of AUs, but I'll generally tag stuff as original work and OCs (even though René's technically a """""Canon""""" BLU Spy and Will's an OC RED Spy). 
> 
> This work is from September 2016, so the quality isn't the best, but I wanted to preserve its original flavor. You might also notice that the formatting is a little different, but that's bc I used to format differently 2 years ago.

Yet another day had passed. There was no progress. René sighed, watching as the weeping sky darkened to night. Twilight was his favorite time of day. It felt like anything could happen, during this witching hour. He was most active during twilight anyway, but his partner… Well “partner.” They were only working together for now, and when things looked bad, René intended on getting rid of this idiot sitting next to him watching the sunset with him. For a moment, the rain stopped, and a few waning golden beams of light arced through the air, painting the ruined buildings in gold. For a moment, René forgot about the apocalypse, forgot about his miserable life, forgot about the man sitting next to him. Beautiful. Then, the moment was gone just as quickly as it appeared. 

“That was nice, wasn’t it?” A voice broke the silence. René resisted the urge to grit his teeth and growl at the Brit beside him. “We don’t get beautiful things that often anymore. At least, we don’t get to appreciate them that much anymore.” Exactly what René had just been thinking. That only served to irritate him further. 

“I don’t need to be reminded of this,” he snarled bitterly, standing. The moment was utterly destroyed. He felt no need for this any longer. In the last remaining bits of light, and while the rain masked his scent, he could go out and forage for scraps, perhaps a little bit something, other miscellaneous objects. A pair of arms wrapped around his waist, encouraging him to stay.

“Just a little longer, love. We have enough supplies to last a good week,” Will murmured into René’s back, his warm breath making the hairs on the back of René’s neck stand on end. 

“No. I need to go and make sure we’re set for the next month.” He semi-reluctantly peeled Will’s arms away from around his midriff. He could imagine the pout forming on the blond’s face, but he didn’t turn around. What was necessary was necessary. 

 

\--

 

Nightfall. René had found next to nothing, aside from a few cans he lacked the can opener to open. Perhaps if he cut hard enough with a knife… Either way, they would have to move again. It seemed that another group had been through and taken most of the things already. Perhaps even moving to the countryside or the forest would be better. There might be more chances of finding food and uncontaminated water there. Whatever water they could salvage was rainwater mostly, which was often too acidic to even attempt drinking. Lighting a fire at night was too dangerous in these newer parts, although zombie appearances did seem to be fewer and further between. He didn’t like using the word zombies. It felt archaic, hardly describing the horrendous monstrosities that could easily swarm a group of people and devour them like an angry tide of piranhas. 

“Finally back?” A cheerful voice greeted René as he entered camp, disgruntled and irritated. 

“ _ Yes, it would appear so _ ,” he growled harshly, stomping over to where the bedrolls were. “I think I’ll just sleep. I ate while I walked.” Will’s brow furrowed. Despite himself, he had let the grumpy, dark-haired man creep into his heart at some point. He walked quietly over to where René was huffily throwing his various jackets haphazardly over the floor, leaving just a skin-tight black t-shirt that only served to accentuate exactly how lean the man was. 

Will decided against speaking to René, instead opting to sidle into the sleeping bag with him. The action was greeted by an almost-snakelike hiss, signalling how unwelcome Will was. That was good, he didn’t bother to say anything. Will usually took non-verbal rebukes as a ‘yes’. Slowly, he pulled René into his arms, landing a few kisses in that messy black hair. He tried to not imagine what kinds of grime the other man managed to get into it. 

“That’s dirty,” René muttered, his voice muffled by Will’s chest. “I wouldn’t recommend that course of action.” Will laughed and ducked down a little more so he could more easily access René’s face, which he also kissed. 

“Is this better, love?” he asked teasingly. The only response was another grumble, although he could see that his partner’s ears were turning red. Cute. “Just sleep. Nothing’s going to get up  _ this _ high to get us.” True enough, they were across a gap only creatures who could fly or had relatively intact motor skills could access. After his nightly ritual of shivering and twitching, René finally fell asleep, mumbling a little in his dreams. Will smiled. He wondered what René could possibly be dreaming about. Perhaps what he used to have, before the apocalypse. With a little jolt, he realized René’s hair had gotten rather long. He would have trouble keeping it out of his face. Will remembered that he found a hairband awhile ago, while he was looking through what appeared to be a girl’s abandoned room. The hairband was even dark blue and grey, colors he thought would match René’s rather dour personality perfectly. A splash of color that didn’t stand out too much, and wouldn’t give him away if his pasty-looking skin didn’t do the trick first. Honestly, being covered up so much could  _ not _ be healthy. Will himself was fairly tanned, at least on his face and arms where he rolled up his sleeves. 

He reached over carefully for his canteen, taking a sip before settling again. René curled closer to him, seeking warmth. Peaceful was the only way the blond could describe this moment. Peaceful, tranquil… Despite the fact that he knew there must be zombies lurking somewhere in the darkness, even if he could not really hear them. Slowly, he felt his eyes start drifting closed, his own body heat combined with René’s warmth lulling him into a sleepy daze, eventually melting into a pleasantly deep sleep. 

There were snippets of a pleasant life, one of flowers, sunshine… And René, who was smiling at Will, his blue eyes coming to life and seeming to dance in the light. The image seemed to be seared into Will’s mind like a brand when he awoke, having already lost the context of the image, with only a faint memory to remind him of the dreams he just had. Whatever the dream was, it must have been sad, because Will could feel tears stinging his eyes as the cold morning light pierced the window above his head. 

René never smiled. 


End file.
